Business & Leadership

Praxair Inc. Combines with Linde

31-10-2018

On October 19th, the Fiscalia Nacional Económica cleared the merger of global industrial and medicinal gases giants, Linde Aktiengesellschaft and Praxair Inc., which operate in Chile through its subsidiaries Linde Gas Chile S.A. and Praxair Chile Limitada.

Morales & Besa and Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos advised Praxair Inc. in the approval of its merger with Linde before the Fiscalía Nacional Económica. The transaction included the jurisdictions of the European Union, The United States, Brazil, South Korea, China, Algeria, Canada, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Turkey, Russia, Ecuador, South Africa, Kenya, Ukraine, Philippines, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia.

The $80bn transaction was cleared subject to remedies. In Chile, the measures offered will involve the divestment of the assets of Praxair Chile to MG Industries GmbH, a joint venture formed by Messer Group GmbH and CVC Advisers, among others.

The merger between Linde-Praxair is one of the most important and complex operations analyzed by the FNE so far this year, taking into consideration its global scope, the measures of a structural nature adopted by the parties and the effects at local and regional level that it will have in the gas production market.

The team of Morales & Besa was led by Gonzalo Cordero, María José Henríquez and Claudia Arce. The Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos team was led by partner Juan Cristóbal Gumucio, assisted by associates Igal Schonberger and Tomás Labbé.

Linde was advised by Philippi, Prietocarrizosa, Ferrero DU & Uría, with a team led by Ignacio Larraín, Álvaro Espinoza, Gabriel Budnik and Catalina Montero.